Door valance board



Patented Mar. 23, 1954 I; PATENT OFE'I CE 'DOBK'VALANGEBOARD Hans" HP Pautke," Elko I N ev. Application February 7, 1952,.-Serial No. 427M331 "fblain'is. (Cl. 160-19) This invention 'r'elates'generally'. to fa valance board'and'morei specificallyto awalance board foruse "over a doorway.

.The'primarymbject of this invention is to proidde "a"va'1ance" board for"- use over""a doorway which may'havethesame general configuration ashther valance? boardsover windows in. a" room having the doorway.

fAnother object" of'this invention is to"provide a"va1ance"board "for use over a'"doorway"which conceals" the-upper portion'fof' the door andidoorway, and is adapted to "have drapery "carried thereby. 7

:Another objecfiof this invention" isto' fprovide avalance boardfior usewith efdoorway; the valsiince board havirrg ave'rtically extending front valance "board 'having"=a portion "which extends irito-the'patlibf the door-when it is being opened, Said portion'being cc' h1a'nar-"with the front valence "boafd but pivotally -securdthereto for Swinging" movement" outof thejpathhf the "door; Ano'thez object bf this invention 'is toprovi'de a valance board for use with a doorway having means for" swingingefportion thereof out of the path of" the door"whichcloses* the doorway.

A furtherhbject of this invention is to provide a valance board for use with a doorway, the

vaiance boardhaving afiortion disposed in the path ofthedoor for closin'g' the "doorwayfsaid portion "being swung out'bf the "path of the door by means operatd by'the 'opening of the door.

These, together {With Various ancillary feacures and *objebts or the inventionfwhich will laterbecome appafntas the'followin'g description ,prooe'eds; are" attained 'by the present in- Vefition; ap-r'ferred embodiment "of which "has been illustrated "by=way*'*of examfile '-onlyin the accompanying drawings, wherein I *Figure 1 is" a"partial elevational" View" ofa Wa'll f" a r00m "ha Vif1g9i dbtlrwayf thiin, the valance board, which is theBiibject-of this invention, bemg-mo medeseve the doorwa "Fig'ure 2'- is-an enlarged partial transversefvertical Sectional viw"thrdf1gh the doorwa of-Figure 1*"siibstantia11y-onthe-section line 2--"-'-2 and shows thearrangemehtof thQValEnCqbDhfd-flfid itsopei-atin'gmeans when thedoor is closed;

Figure is partial transverse "vertical sectional" view similar to Figure 2; and 'showing the position of the means tor swingingithe po'r't'ion "r he front 1 velance beard *when 'the door is "wean-m1 eransveisei verticaL secrengement: of themazlaneeiboard and: itsrioperated mechanism when the door is open; and

"Figure 35 iiis Jan enlarged partial celevational view looking .I from behind the :iroht valance board LtowarTds lthe .doorway and "showing .the means for ,rpivotallyfmountingm ail lever .which'ii's pa'rt ofllthe operatingsmechanism .of Lthetvalance board. I Y Y .iR'ferring now more specificiallyltothe .accompan'ying drawings, wherein; like numerals .Ldesignatelsim'ilar (parts throughout the various Views, 'it will {be "seen L that the novel. valance board, which is' the'subiect of" this inventioml is shown'in'Figure 1' as being applied'ovena conventional i doorway 01in a wall T2 or a room. The edges'of the doorway T0 are; provided with the"co'nv,entional boarder trim |4, aridthe door- .way t0" is c'los'edh aconveh'tionml' swinging door T6. (Mounted ovefthedoorwayf l0 and secured to the wall" 12 is" the'va1ance"board f8, :whiohf is the subjeet'off thisfinvention.

Referring now to Figure 2, tin particular, "it will be seen that the valance board W'consists ofa rear mounting board zo wmeh" issecure'd' to the wail 12' arid= supports thevalance boaid" f8 therefrom; YT-he valance board 8 also" inchides a we boardZ'fefidbOardS 24;"afid a front" valance'bo'ar'd 26. "*As is "illustrated in theumwin'gs, theiront'valance" boardiz I; is "disposed within'the bathhf the "door" Hi -and"'prevents thedoor' T6 from being fully opened. In or'derthat" thefro'ht vine-rice board 2 fi does not interfere *with the opening-chute door-' 'l6'," the frontvalance'board is provided with a swinging portion 28wh1chis pivotally secured to and in normal coblanar'relation wi'th'the front -valance 'board 26 '-bypivot pi'ns"30.

'Trr order" to prevent the "door 3 f6 "fromhtiikihg the" swinging po'r-tion528 of "the front 'valance board 26, there is provided an operating mechainsm iiorrzsunnging theo ortiomiza; The operating mechanism includes a 1everi32ewhichfisupiw otally 'seouredrrbetween the =armswof a mounting bracketvflwby La" pivot-pin 36. r'I he mount'ing bnacketuflz:is-rsecuredwtoethe rear- -board .20-ad jacent the lower edge thereof. An-veye '38-ds SEGU'FBde to-,the underside-hfthetoptboardlfll in vertical alignment with Lthepivbt shin 36. f; The lever-232' is, provided with a plurality. or apertures 40" intermediate its ends. The apertures 40 are adapted? toreceive 'one end or: a tension spring 42 carried bythe eye 38, and theioluralityofapertures"'is"'for-purposes of adjusting the-*tenis'iomof the spring 12.

iReferri-ngmow to Figures 2, -"3 and- 4,i*in[par tiuularjiiti will be seen thationcetlthel ieveriiiihasbeen: rotatedcclockwfisezirom:itszfnoumalwertical position that further clockwise rotation will be urged by the spring 42. In order to prevent rapid clockwise rotation of the lever 32 in response to the spring 42, and also in order to return the lever 32 to its normal vertical position, the lever 32 is provided with a horizontal arm 44 Referring to Figure 2, in particular, it will be seen that when the lever 32 is in its normal vertical position that the arm 44 overlies the top of the door it and is in engagement with the underside of the top board 46 of the casing of the doorway it).

It will be seen by referring to Figures 1 and 5 that the lever 32 and its associated elements are disposed adjacent the unhinged edge of the door it. By so positioning the lever "5, it is obvious that rotation of the door l6 through a small angle will bring the door 16 into engagement with the lever 32 and its associated arm 44, as shown in Figure 3.

When the door I6 is opened, its front surface strikes the rear of the lever 32 and rotates the lever 32 clockwise to a point where the spring 42 is in a position to urge further clockwise rotation of the lever The spring-urged counterclockwise rotation of the lever 32 results in the engagement of the arm 44 with the upper rear edge of the door I6 to retain the lever 32 against further spring-urged rotation. As the door I6 is further opened, the lever 32 is allowed to further rotate clockwise until it engages the rear side of the swinging portion 28 of the front valance board 26. As the door it continues to open, the lever 32 rotates to a horizontal position and at the same time rotates the swinging portion 23 to a horizontal position as shown in Figure 4. When the lever 32 is in a horizontal position, the arm 44 no longer engages the rear of the door E5. The swinging portion 28 of the front valance board 26 having been swung out of the path of the door IS, the door [6 is free to be fully opened.

When the door i6 is closed, its upper rear edge again engages the arm 44 and moves the arm and its associated lever 32 to a position shown in Figure 2. Since the pivot pins 30 for mounting the swinging portion 28 are above the center of gravity of the swinging portion 28, the swinging portion returns to its original position by the force of gravity.

In order that draperies may be supported by the valance board [8, there is secured to the underside of the top board 22 a drapery supporting rod 48.

Although the valance board I8 is illustrated as having a front valance board 26 and a swinging portion 2%} of a fanciful design, it is obvious that-the design of the valance board for over the doorway II! will have the same design as the valance boards for use over the windows (not shown) of the room.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the valance board will be readily understood, and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, nor is it desired to limit the invention to a doorway having a single door as it is designed for use with French doors also, and also suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A door valance for a doorway having a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over said doorway in the path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing said doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of said door upon the opening of same, said swinging portion being pivotable about a horizontal axis, said axis being above the center of gravity of the swinging portion whereby said swinging portion is urged to its normal position coplanar with the remainder of said front valance board.

2. A door valance for a doorway having a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over said doorway in the path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing said doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of said door upon the opening of same, said swinging portion being pivotable about a horizontal axis, said axis being above the center of gravity of the swinging portion whereby said swinging portion is urged to its normal position coplanar with the remainder of said front valance board, means responsive to the opening of the door for swinging said portion out of the path of the door.

3. A door valance for a doorway having a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over said doorway in the path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing said doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of said door upon the opening of same, means engageable with the door and responsive to the opening thereof, said means being engageable with said portion to swing the same out of the path of the door, said means for swinging said portion including a spring-urged lever which is engageable with said portion for swinging same, means for retaining said lever in an inoperative position.

4. A door valance for a doorway having a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over said doorway in the path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing said doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of said door upon the opening of same, means engageable with the door and responsive to the opening thereof, said means being engageable with said portion to swing the same out of the path of the door, said means for swinging said portion including a spring-urged lever which is engageable with said portion for swinging same, means for retaining said lever in an inoperative position, said retaining means including a depending arm on said lever, said arm being engageable by the upper edge of the door to be moved thereby in and out of its lever retaining position.

5. A door valance for a doorway including a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over a doorway in a path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing the doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of the door upon opening of the same, an actuating lever pivotally mounted rearwardly of said front valance board portion, said lever engaging said front valance board portion and pivoting the same to "vertical front valanceboard which is adapted to be mounted Over a doorway in a path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing the doorway, a portion of said front valance board bein swingable out of the path of the door upon opening of the same, an actuating lever pivotally mounted rearwardly of said front valance board portion, said lever engaging said front valance board portion and pivoting the same to a horizontal position upon opening of the door, said lever being spring urged towards said front valance board portion, means on said lever engageable with the door for restraining pivoting of said lever in response to urging of said spring when the door is closed.

'7. A door valance for a doorway including a vertical front valance board which is adapted to be mounted over a doorway in a path of a swinging door which is mounted for closing the doorway, a portion of said front valance board being swingable out of the path of the door upon opening of the same, an actuating lever pivotally mounted rearwardly of said front valance board portion, said lever engaging said front valance board portion and pivoting the same to a horizontal position upon opening of the door, said lever being spring urged towards said front valance board portion, means on said lever engageable with the door for restraining pivoting of said lever in response to urging of said spring when the door is closed, said front valance board portion having its mounting means above its center of gravity whereby the front valance board portion is urged to a vertical position.

HANS H. PAUTKE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,646,893 Witteman Oct. 25, 1927 2,208,309 Leonard July 16, 1940 2,602,499 Ault July 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 103,532 Sweden Nov. 20, 1941 

